Middlesex County college vs Raritan valley County college

[Tanne27]

Hi there everyone. I am in the process of switching career from teaching to nursing and I must say that I am happy I found this site, you all are amazing, I just love how information is shared. I have researched about the Accelerated programs but those won't work for me based on my 8-4 job....

I have read about the schools Raritan Valley and Middlesex County college and want to know which of the two is better in terms of overall experience, cost, faculty, waiting time to be accepted, etc. I do not have the prerequisites so my plan is to do them before applying.

But I really need feedback on the topic...sorry for the long message:down:

[NJess]

I cant speak for Raritan Valley, but I graduated from MCC and I really think it deserves more credit than it receives. The program is definitely challenging, but really great, and I feel like it prepared me very well for nursing. One by one my classmates keep passing the NCLEX in 75 questions, including me, and it really feels like MCC did something right.

Most of the instructors are very available, experienced, and helpful, although of course theres always a few that you could do without. Some will let you get away with more than others. All of them were very knowledgeable.

Clinicals were great. The program is affiliated with RBMC, so most students are placed there for clinicals, and we floated around everywhere in the hospital. Some got placed in Centrastate for a semester. Some lucky ones got to go to Carrier Clinic for psych and participate in their equine program. Overall we got a very well-rounded experience.

I know some of the nearby schools have clinical mainly in LTC facilities, but MCC does not, and maybe that contributes to its greatness. During my time there, I went to Medsurg, OR, Peds, L&D (participated in live and C-section births), PACU, ICU, Psych facility, ER, Adult day care, LTC facility, and a school for special needs children. They really give you a wide variety of different nursing experiences, and I learned a ton from that.

I would 100% recommend MCC to anyone interested in the nursing program.

Also, they have a pinning ceremony for their nursing students before graduation that is really extravagant with brunch and awards, including monetary awards and scholarships for graduating students. Talking to people who went to RVCC, they did not get a ceremony like that.